CD Review – King Kong – Original London Cast and Original South African Cast  

KING KONG – Original London Cast and Original South African Cast (STAGE DOOR RECORDS – STAGE 9057)

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

I have to confess I actually own this cast recording on vinyl, but I have never played it. Don’t know why – I think the cover put me off – no idea, but I do know it has been around my shelves for the better part of 40 years. So, when the CD arrived, and I saw it, I could feel this coldness creep up inside me and thinking ‘Oh god, do I have to listen to this?’ Well, I did, and I now know I have lost out for the past 40-odd years as it is really quite addictive. I have been going around for the past day and a half singing the title song ‘King Kong’ – I can’t get the bloody tune out of my head – thank you Stage Door Records!

It is very much ‘of its time’ and that time was round about the late 50s early 60s. The show was marketed as a jazz-opera and you can see that more clearly on the South African cast recording (which is also included on this CD). The London version is more ‘musical’ in its orchestrations.

The show concerns itself with the life of Ezekiel Diamini, a heavyweight boxer from South Africa known as King Kong. His story is one of violence and drunkenness, ending with a supposed suicide, after spending 14 years hard labour in jail for killing his girlfriend. So, it’s not going to be a jolly Salad Days-type musical, you can tell that from the outset. However, it is now recognised as playing a pioneering role in breaking down the racial barriers, especially in South Africa when it was produced at the height of the apartheid era.

You may wonder why the CD has the two cast recordings on it – well, they differ quite significantly in content. There are seven tracks that are the same for both versions, but the delivery and orchestrations are so different that it makes for very interesting listening. The lead male is the same on both recordings, Nathan Mdledle, and there are about another three cast members who were brought over from South Africa to appear in the London production.

The notes say the whole cast were brought over but I can’t see identical names listed and, for some reason, only the list of cast members for the London production is listed in the booklet. Three bonus tracks are included, two of which are pop versions of tracks from the show released by Elaine Delmar.

If it hadn’t been for Stage Door Records I would still have this vinyl lying on the shelf, unloved and unheard. That would have been a great shame, as this truly does have so much history to it and has been lovingly remastered of course, as only Stage Door Records do.

Nick Wakeham